Gingrich at 38% support, jumps to biggest lead yet over Romney: poll

Newt Gingrich jumps to dominant lead over Mitt Romney: poll

WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich widened his lead over his rivals, according to a poll released Thursday showing him with more than double the support of Mitt Romney.

Gingrich — the former House speaker who in recent days has surged in the polls — received 38% support from respondents in a telephone survey of likely Republican primary voters conducted by the Rasmussen poll organization.

That lead is the biggest attained by any Republican presidential candidate so far in roiling pre-primary jockeying that has seen several contenders claim the frontrunner mantle, only to fall back a few weeks later.

Most surprising, however, is the huge gap separating Gingrich and Romney, who earned just 17% in the Rasmussen poll.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who consistently has been among the top Republican presidential contenders throughout the pre-primary season, had been deemed by many to be the default frontrunner.

However, in Rasmussen’s national survey of 1,000 people, he appears to have lost a great deal of ground to Gingrich. No other candidates received double-digit support, the poll showed.

The result confirms a Quinnipiac University survey of Republican voters that showed Gingrich pulling ahead of Romney by a commanding 49% versus 39%.

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Other polls from individual U.S. states also confirm the trend of voter support breaking decidedly in favor of the former Georgia congressman.

Gingrich’s rise in the polls, thanks in part to some strong debate performances, has been meteoric: as recently as November 2, the 68-year old former lawmaker earned just 10 percent support, according to Quinnipiac.

The former congressman earned a boost at the weekend when he picked up a major newspaper endorsement in the pivotal US state of New Hampshire.

Gingrich however was recently forced to deny lobbying on Freddie Mac’s behalf after reports emerged that he earned at least $1.6 million from the government lender between 1999 and 2008.

The confessed adulterer has also divorced twice and left his first wife following her treatment for cancer — actions likely to turn off many social conservatives.

His surge in the polls comes with the critically important Iowa caucuses little more than a month away, on January 3.

But voters there are notoriously unpredictable, meaning his rivals could still make a splash there and use it as a springboard going into New Hampshire, where the first U.S. primary vote will be held on January 10.